By Michael Gleeson and Peter Ryan
The AFL is yet to decide on a push by Carlton to be able to use a pick in the national draft to fill the list vacancy created by Liam Jones’ sudden retirement due to vaccination rules.
The Blues have petitioned the AFL for the right to use one of the picks they already hold – currently pick 64 – in the draft to fill the list place created by Jones’ extraordinary decision.
Carlton defender Liam Jones announced his retirement after the list lodgement deadline.Credit: Getty Images
The push comes as sources said former Carlton ruck/forward Levi Casboult was expected to receive a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine ahead of next Friday’s rookie draft to pave the way for his AFL career to continue with the Gold Coast.
The 31-year-old was initially hoping to wait for the Novavax vaccine to be available in Australia, but sources close to him said he was moving towards getting his first dose next week.
Blues ask AFL for discretion
Under existing rules, the Blues cannot use the pick they have in the draft because they did not have enough list places available when they had to lodge their list a week ago. Jones announced his retirement three days later.
Current rules would allow the Blues to select a replacement player only in the supplementary period in January.
Carlton have argued the retirement came about due to a change of AFL rules on vaccinations and so an exception should be permitted in the Jones case.
The AFL’s initial reaction had been that this was difficult to assess as officially Jones had offered no reason for his retirement, so all the league actually know is a player retired after the cut-off period for personal reasons.
Carlton are asking for discretion in this case and have not sought to be given a new pick, just the right to use an existing pick they already have at the end of the draft.
The arbitrary timing of the important second list lodgement about two weeks before the draft is a frustration and the Blues have argued is unnecessarily early as all documentation is now electronic and there is no paperwork to wade through.
Had the second list lodgement been even a week before the draft, it would have come after Jones’ retirement.
The day after Jones’ retirement, head of football Brad Lloyd said he had been in discussions with the AFL and that the club would push to be able to take a player in the draft.
“From a playing list point of view, I’ve been in pretty regular contact on the weekend with Andrew Dillon and the AFL. We’ll be able to replace Liam’s position on the list,” Lloyd said.
“You’d be aware of the supplementary period where you can have players train on with the club and then select one of those post-draft. We’ll also discuss with the AFL the possibility of having another pick in the draft if that’s a chance.”
Casboult set to be vaccinated
Casboult was likely to get vaccinated next week even though players at Queensland-based clubs are not required to have their first vaccination until January 17.
Gold Coast are not keen to add a player to their list whose vaccination status remains unclear. All AFL players required to be fully vaccinated to play in the AFL in 2022 with deadlines in place for players to be vaccinated depending on which state their club resides.
Levi Casboult is now likely to get vaccinated ahead of the national draft.Credit: Getty Images
The AFL sent a memo last week requiring all players nominating for the national drafts to inform the league by last Friday if they did not intend to be vaccinated or were seeking a medical exemption. Clubs would then be informed if any players remained in that position immediately ahead of the draft.
Casboult would add much-needed grunt inside the Suns’ forward 50 as emerging key forward Ben King continues to develop and with Izak Rankine expected to make improvement inside 50 in 2022. His addition would come just weeks after they lost Hugh Greenwood to North Melbourne after they delisted him with the plan to re-draft him.
There remains a handful of players across the competition who have shown a hesitancy to get the vaccination.
The Eagles have been working with three players who required further information before making their choice, but West Coast CEO Trevor Nisbett told The Age on Tuesday the club expected all its AFL-listed players to be vaccinated by the February 22 deadline for WA-based players.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.